Chocolate Chips Cookies

i think the kids are probably tired of seeing cakes/muffins/cupcakes appearing from the oven. It is no longer exciting even for myself.  There are so many things that I would like to give it a try but god knows what’s making me procrastinate. I have no idea why I am so terrified of certain bakes, e.g. Cheese Cake, Breads and Cream Cakes.  Maybe, I just wanna try to perfect whatever that was deemed “hey, quite nice leh” and I really wanna have consistency in each bake, than to have different taste and feel for the same recipe.

Becos the NSG is happening this week for the teenager, and I wanna show my moral support, besides going jogging with him, (secretly, I feel super shiok that the 15yo jio-ed me along), I decided to bake one of his favorites- Chocolate Chips Cookies to show my love and auppprt.  Scrolling through so many recipes, I decided on this and it turned it quite well!

Ingredients:

part A -  Wet Ingredients:

- 165g melted butter

- 70g granulated sugar

- 70g brown sugar 

- 2 egg yolks

- 2 tsp vanilla extract 

* recipe calls for 80g each but becos we do not like overly sweet cookies, hence i reduced to 70g each. 

Part B - Dry Ingredients:

- 300g Plain or All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 to 1 1/2 cup of chocolate chips



Steps:
1. Pre-heat oven at 190degrees.  Prepare 2 trays lined with parchment papers.

2. Melt the butter under small heat and once melted, bring away and stir slowly and let it slowly cool and solidify.

3. Add in both granulated and brown sugar and stir until well-combined.

4. Add in egg yolks and stir again till well-combined, then add in 2 tsp of vanilla extract.  Mix well.

5. Mix all the dry ingredients together, leaving out the chocolate chips.

6. Sieve into the sugar-egg-butter mixtures in 3 portions.  Using a spatula, ensure its well mixed before adding the 2nd.  Using a spatula again, mixed well before adding the last and 3rd portion.  This time, use hand to rub and mix well.

7. Add in chocolate chips and continue to mix using hands.

8. Pinch the mixture and roll into balls, estimated 25-30g of weight.  Line them on the parchment papers.  Gently press down the balls to form a circle shape.  You may like to add in more chocolate chips on top of the balls.

9. Send into the oven for 12 minutes.  Rotate the tray and continue baking for another 8-9 mins.

10. When done, leave the cookies to cool for 5 mins before transferring to a cooling rack to let the cookies cool down totally.

Happy mum

Chocolate Chips Banana Cake

The recent banana cake I did a few days ago caved in!  How could that happened and I was devastated beyond words.  Upsetting and feeling very adamant that I MUST make it happen the right way I want the cake to be.  Hahahahahaha!!!! Okie, I am being very frivolous with my words here, all becos I am in a super duper good mood this morning.  Well, the cake rose to the occasion last night as I attempted a new recipe.  You got it, I went to bed feeling sweet, loved and whatever.  It was definitely a good good day yesterday.

So, it was some trial and error on the new recipe that I researched and followed from a YouTube tutorial and for once, I decided to be hardworking to bring out my handheld mixer to do some serious works.  Ya lah, I am a funny person.  I am so lazy to bring out my mixer and rather be hardworking to manually beat and mix my flour/and ingredients and yes.... all these time.  I figure I must be serious this time and so guai guai brought out the handheld.


Ingredients:

Mixture A:
125g butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Mixture B:
2 cups of Cake Flour
2.5 tsp Baking Powder
0.5 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk x 2 cups

Mixture C:
3 bananas (2 mashed bananas and 1 banana roughly mashed into chunks)
Choc Chips
Choc rice


Step 1:
Preheat the oven for 15mins at 170 degrees.  Lightly grease the baking tin.

Step 2:
Mixture A- Using the handheld mixer, mix the butter and sugar into cream (light and fluffy).  Add in vanilla essence and one egg and continue to mix (on gentle speed) until creamy again.  Add in the 2nd egg and continue to beat until well mixed and creamy.

Step 3:
Mixture B - Sieve 2 cups of flour and baking powder and salt over Mixture A.  Mix gently and add in the first 1/4 cup of milk and continue to mix on medium speed.  Add in the 2nd 1/4 cup of milk and mix on medium speed.  It should end up creamy and smooth.

Step 4:
Mixture C - Add in the mashed bananas and go on gentle mixing.  When the bananas are well mixed, add in choc chip and choc rice (leave some aside for decoratives) and using a spatula, fold everything in gently.  Take note not to overmix.

Step 5:
Pour the mixture into the greased tin.  Bring the tin to about 2 inch high and gently "drop" on the workstation to get rid of the air pockets.  You can also gently knock all 4 walls of the tin for the same purpose.

Step 5:
Send the tin into the oven to bake at 170 degrees for 35-40mins.  When baking is done, use a skewer or a toothpick to test the done-ness.  If the stick come out clean, the cake is done.  If its still wet and gluey, fret not.  Extend bake time by another 15-20 mins but reduce the temperature to 150 degrees.  Do avoid frequently opening the oven to check no matter how tempted you are.  The loss of heat may result in caving in, something we will hate to see.

Step 6:
Using the skewer again, check for done-ness one more time.  If all parts are firm when poking in and comes out clean, the cake is done!

Dun say bojio! I jio you to start baking now.  lol!!!


Happy mum

年糕煎堆

Gong Hei Fatt Choy folks!

Every CNY, I'll look forward to making this becos of the following reasons:

1. Symbolic - its such an auspicious dish symbolizing: 团团圆圆，圆圆满满，步步高升，甜甜蜜蜜，金银财宝堆积成山.  Need I say more how auspicious this dish is? :P
   
2. Prevent food wastage: how else to settle the 年糕 right?
   
3. To better each previous year.... for every year without fail, I will be pretty much scalded by hot oil "exploding" from the pot of boiling oil.  I love challenges, I really do.. and each year's challenge, is to prevent myself from being scalded.  And this year, I DID IT!!!!! Change out the recipe a little this year and it works pretty well.

Ok, here goes the ingredients:

Set A:

- 1 and 1/2 Glutinous Rice Flour

- 2 and 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

Directions: Mixed well and set aside in a large bowl

Set B:

- 2/3 cup of hot water

- 4 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon oil

Directions: Dissolve the sugar into the hot water and add in the oil.  Set aside.

Set C:

- Cube the 年糕 (Sticky Rice Cake) about 1cm cube or just slightly bigger.

- Roasted White Sesame and Black Sesame Seeds in the ratio of 10:1 (added black sesame seeds so that it looks nicer.  

- Pot of oil, you can use one whole small bottle (do not heat up until about to cook as if the oil is too hot, the exterior will be cooked and burnt whilst the contents remain uncooked.)

Step 1:

Using a large bowl, mixed the flour and powder well (Set A) and pour half of Set B mixture into the bowl and start to mix well using a spatula or spoon.  Don't worry if it remains crumbly or too dry.  Slowly add in a little more of Set B and continue to mix until Set A is damp.  Then using your fist, knead the dough by folding in and kneading using your knuckles.  This process takes about 5-8 mins or until you see the dough has formed nicely.  The end product should not be crumbly or runny.  Set aside for 10 mins while working the the rest.

Note: you may not use up all of Set B.  In fact, I have about 20% of Set B remaining.

Step 2:

While the dough is resting, you can proceed to cube the  年糕.  The best way to do so, is to pour hot water over the blade of your knife before you cut/cube the 年糕 . This will ensure your blade to be free from stickness.

Step 3:

Remove your dough, roll into long form and using a knife/spatula, cut into about 20 portions.  Or, what lazy me did, was instead of rolling, I pinch some dough and started rolling into a ball about the size of a half fishball.  After forming into a ball, using your thumb, make a dent and shape into a bowl and put one cube of the 年糕 into the bowl and start pinching to form back into a ball.  Ensure that you check that the sharp corners of the 年糕 do not protrude out of the ball.

Step 4:

Gently roll your filled ball over the plate of mixed sesame seeds and ensure even coating.  Set again and continue with the rest till the dough has all been used up.

Step 5:

Only at this point, then turn on small to medium fire for the point of oil. When you see small bubbles, add in the balls one by one.  Do not be impatient to add everything as the dough will be stuck to the base of the pot.  What I did was to drop one ball, using a pair of chopsticks, I kept turning the ball till the surface is totally cooked (so that it will not stick to the pot's base) before I add another ball and continue flipping.  I think the max should be 4 balls and you keep rotating the balls in the pot to create movement and to prevent sticking.  Using the chopsticks, gently press on the surface of each ball.  The more you press, the bigger the balls will inflate.  Dish out onto a kitchen tissue about 3-4 mins later or when the colour turns golden brown.  Do not turn up the fire as the sesame seed and exterior may be burnt very quickly.

Some recipes call for the wetting of the balls before rolling over sesame seeds.  That was what I did in previous years and got scalded very badly.  If your dough is sticky enough, the sesame seeds will be coated nicely and will not loosen.  Also, when moving the balls in the hot pot, do so gently to prevent the sesame seeds from dropping out. 

Have fun trying! 

Happy mum

Banana Cake

Bananas... the kids' favourite but usually, they either end up eating too many in a day, or waste them by forgetting to eat and letting them "rot" before throwing.  Just nice, I have a pack of Cake Flour that has just expired by 1 month and a bunch of bananas that are too ripe and hence, decided to make a maiden attempt of the Banana Cake.  The end result - the hubby loves it for its "originality".  Don't ask me in what ways, becos I do not dare to eat banana cakes and hence cannot make any comparison to those sold outside.  In his words, the cake has a very nice banana aroma and the top of the cake is a little crusty while the inside is moist, soft but doesn't crumble easily.  Whatever, cos I still don't dare to touch bananas.  But happy that he loves it!

Ingredients:
Mixture A:
- 2 cups Cake Flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder

Mixture B:
- 125g salted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 teaspoons milk

Whisk butter and sugar into cream and add one egg at a time into the mixture.  Add the milk last.  Set aside.

Mixture C:
- 3 bananas mashed (roughly instead of fine if you prefer to have chunks in the cake)


Step 1: Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and prepare the mixtures as above

Step 2: Grease the baking tray/tin with butter

Step 3: Add Mixture C (mashed banana) into Mixture A (Butter/Sugar/Eggs).

Step 4: Slowly add in Mixture B by folding the batter thoroughly.

Step 5: Pour into baking tray/tin.  Gently knock the tray to allow air to escape and for the batter to settle down nicely

Step 6: Send into the oven to bake at 180 degrees for 55 mins.

Tadah, the completed product!

Happy going-bananas!  Enjoy!


Happy mum

Curry Chicken

Well, as usual, am on a "self-imposed" budget challenge, hence need to find ways to make our meals as economical as possible.  So, I bought a try of whole chopped chicken and I used half of it for stew.  Decided to use the other half for curry chicken since I have the other ingredients (curry leaves, lemon grass etc) in the fridge.  And becos I super love using thermal pot (wah, cuts down the cooking time by half!), so this round, instead of totally relying on stove, I used the thermal pot to help.


Ingredients:
- half chicken, chopped into pieces (can replace with frozen wings too)
- potatoes (skinned, chopped into halves)
- one stalk of lemon grass (chopped diagonally into 2inches long)
- curry leaves (2 sprigs, use leaves only)
- curry chicken paste* (see below)
- coconut milk
- pinch of salt
- oil (for frying potatoes and for the curry afterwards)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- half pot hot water

* This is the paste that I always use:

Steps:
1. Heat up the oil in wok on medium fire.

2. Add in the chopped potatoes and fry till golden brown.  Dish and set aside.  (I like to do it this way to prevent the potatoes from "disintegrating" lol!!)

3. Leave about 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok.  Add in the curry paste and stir fry continuously till all mixed and fragrance is out.  Throw in the lemongrass and curry leaves, continue to stir fry till you seen the chilli oil coming out.

4. Add in the chicken and give a good fry.  Ensure all chicken parts are coated with the curry paste. Fry for about 5-10 mins.

5. Toss in the potatoes and continue to fry.  By this time, the wok should be pretty dry.  Add in one cup of water.  Continue to fry again.

6. Add in the sugar, and a bit of salt.

7. Pour about half pot of hot water into the wok of curry and fry continuously.

8. Add in the pack of coconut milk and stir well.  Let the curry boil.  By now, the chicken should be at least 80% cooked.  At this stage, you can either:

a. continue to boil the curry till chicken are all well-cooked OR
b. dish into the thermal pot and let it self cook for 30mins or longer (if you want it to be more tender).

Happy Eating!

Happy mum

Home-cooked Mee Hoon Kuey

Little Lass and me love mee hoon kuey a lot!  Ok, Little Lass loves it a lot more than me cos she is still unaware of the repercussion of having it on a regular basis (its flour leh!).  LOL!  So, I was running out of idea what to prepare for her lunch when I happened to look back my past food album and saw MHK!  So, we all had that for lunch today.

Ingredients:
For the dough: - good for 3-4 pax
- 2.5 cups of plain flour
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt

For the soup:
- handful of ikan bilis (or ikan bilis Knorr's cube)
- half cup of soya beans (黄豆)
- Pot of water

For 配料:
- sliced mushrooms
- minced pork marinated with light soy sauce, corn flour,  sesame oil, pinch of salt and white pepper
- vegs (I used spinach as I cant find mani-cai)
- prawns/fish slice (optional)
- ikan bilis (to be pan-fried)


Step 1:
Prepare the dough by mixing everything together and kneading into a non-sticky texture (takes about 10 mins).  Cover dough with a damp cloth and set aside for 30-60mins.

Step 2:
Boil the broth by adding the soya beans and ikan bilis / knorrs' cube.  Once the broth comes to a boil, set aside or keep in the thermal pot (recommended).

Step 3:
While broth is boiling or while the dough is resting, you can also work on the other ingredients.  Heat a small pan with oil and fry the mushrooms till fragrant and dish up to set aside.  Pan fried ikan bilis and set aside.  These are to be added when the dish is ready.

Step 4:
After dough has rested, separate the dough into 3 portions (3 pax). 

Step 5:
Scoop about 5-6 big ladle of soup into a small pot and set to boil.

Step 6:
Working on one of the dough, you can use a roller pin to roll till flat and tear away or you can use ur hands to flatten and pull the dough into small flat irregular pieces.  Throw the pulled dough into the small pot of boiling broth and cook for about 3-4 mins.

Step 7:
Spoon the minced meat into the small pot of boiling soup + kueys.  Give a good stir.

Step 8:
Throw in the fish slices or prawns and cook for 1 more min before adding in the vegetables.  Stir well.

Step 9:
Crack an egg into the bowl.

Step 10:
Pour out the contents in the small pot into the bowl.

Step 11:
Garnish with the fried ikan bilis and mushrooms.

Step 12:
Add a dash of sesame oil and pepper and serve.

Happy Lunching!

Happy mum

Salted Egg Cereal Chicken

ever since the youngest baby tried Cereal Prawns, he loved it for the crispy curry leaves and cereals and I decided to create the same dish but switch out the prawns with chicken.  And becos the auntie in me wanted to get the free Pyrex baking try ($15 worth of Knorrs products), I bought the Salted Egg powder.  Hence, for dinner, I decided to do up Salted Egg Cereal Chicken.

Ingredients:
- one pack of chicken fillet cut into 3cm cubes (but I would suggest chicken thigh meat will be nice!)
- 5 tablespoon Salted Egg Powder
- 5 tablespoon Cereal
- 1 to 2 chilli padi (chopped)
- 20 curry leaves
- pinch of salt & pepper
-1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon corn flour (for extra cripsyness, add some sweet potato flour)
- 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine


Steps:

1. Marinate the chicken cubes with salt and pepper and corn flour.  Set aside to marinate for 25 mins.

2. Heat up pan with oil on medium fire to pan fry the chicken.  While oil is heating up, add in the beaten egg mixture to the chicken cubes and mix well.

3. Add in the chicken into the pan to fry till golden brown.  Dish up onto a kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

4. Leave a little oil + add in the butter on low fire, add in the salted egg powder and give a good stir.  When the mixture starts to bubble, add in the cereal, sugar, curry leaves and chilli and give a good stir to mix well.  Take care to loosen the clumps.

5. Add in the chicken cubes when the salted egg cereal mixture becomes aromatic.  Continue to stir fry.

6. Dish and plate.

Happy Eating!

Happy Mum

Yam Strips

Why is there no CNY mood yet although we are just like 2 weeks more to CNY?

And so, I decided to get myself "busy" for 15 mins in the kitchen to try recover the missing pre-CNY ambience,  hahahaha! The fastest way is to airfry the yam in my fridge before sending the kids for their TKD grading.  Seems like I am trying to calm myself down as though I am the one going for grading.  :P

Ingredient:

- One whole yam, sliced into strips.

- Olive Oil (about 1 teaspoon)

- Dash of Salt

Steps:

1. Slice the yam thinly into roughly 2 inch long, 3-5mm thick.  Set aside on a wide plate.

2. Pre-heat airfry for 5 mins.  Set to 180degrees for 20mins

3. While airfryer is heating up, marinate the yam strips with the olive oil, follow by the dash of salt.  Ensure even coating.

4. Load the yam strips into the airfryer basket.  Spread the strips evenly.

5. Loosen the yam strips 5 mins later.  Continue to airfry.

6. Open the airfryer drawer and loosen the yam strips again.  Gently toss the strips to prevent sticking and ensure the yam strips are evenly "fried".

7. Dish out the airfried yam strips onto  large plate.  Loosen up to allow fast cooling before you transfer into an airtight container,

 

Happy airfrying!

Happy mum

Grilled Bird with Baked Broccolini

I know I have been lazy. No, not lazy to cook. In fact I have been cooking all along, just that there was no motivation to blog it down simply because time is a huge factor. With 3 kids and now helper-less, after a cookout and wash up, all I wanna do is to retreat back into my room to stone. Hahahah. 

Anyway, am running out of ideas what to prepare for the family's dinner. The usual rice and 3-4 dishes if taken everyday, really makes us grey. So, I decided to change out the menu for tonight and did a grilled bird with greens. Nothing can go wrong with chicken meal right? Lol!

Ingredient:

- 1 small Spring Chicken (discard head, neck and the butt)

- 1 onion (chopped into 4 rings)

- 1 blob of butter 

- Extra-virgin olive oil 

- Salt

- Broccolini

- 1 whole Garlic (chopped roughly)

- Lemon (halved)

- bowl of ice water

Other accompaniments: - optionals 

- baby potatoes 

- corns

- carrots 

Marinade:

- Cajun powder

- Paprika powder

- Garlic Salt

- Black Pepper

- Salt

Steps:

1. Wash the bird thoroughly by scrubbing the body with salt and wash it under the tap. Pat dry with kitchen towel and set aside. 

2. Salt the bird, follow by black pepper, then rub some Cajun powder and Prapika and finally a dash of garlic salt. Set aside for 4 hours or longer. 

3. Boil a pot of water, adding a dash of salt and some olive oil. Add in the Broccolini when the water boils. Remove the vegs when water starts to boil again, which is about 5 mins. Add the veg into a bowl of ice water. Remove and pat dry. 

4. After 4 hours, preheat the oven. Set to 180 degrees and switch to 60mins. Olives-oiled the tray. 

5. Place the 4 rings of onions in a 2 X 2 format. Lay the bird on top of the onion rings. Add the blob of butter on top of the bird. And .... Let it Roast, let it roast.

6.  20 mins into roasting, add in the optional accompaniments (baby potatoes carrots, corns). 

7. At the last 10 mins, add in the Broccolini and the chopped garlic. 

8.  Plate nicely and serve. Just before tucking in, drizzle some lemon juice onto the Broccolini and the bird for that refreshing taste. 

Enjoy!

Happy mum

Passionfruit Honey Mint Camomile Tea

Ok I was doing my Supermarketing when I saw a whole lot of passionfruits. To be honest, i super love Passionfruit for its sourish, refreshing and perk me up taste. And weather hasn't been too kind, with the readings in the 30-something-degrees. Figured I can do up a cooling drink for the folks at home. And we'll, it was also another good bonding session between the kids and me. 

Ingredients:

Camomile Tea (about 3-4 sachets) 

Honey x 3 teaspoons

Passionfruits x 6

Mint leaves x 3-5 sprigs (lightly crushed)

Strawberries (optional)

Steps:

1. Extract the passionfruits by cutting them into half and cupping out the pulps and seeds into a siever.

2. Drain the juice using a siever. 

3. Infused the teabags and set aside for about 5-8mins. 

4. Prepare the strawberries and mint leaves and set aside. 

5.  Pour the tea into a pitcher and add in the honey followed by the honey. 

6. Add in the strawberries and mint leaves. 

7. Send into the fridge and consume when it's cold. 

Happy cooling day!

Happy mum

Preserved Plums and Cherry Tomatoes

I'm 

Yeah, healthy snackings should be the choice instead of chips. The husband had craved for this addictive snacking delights and hence decided to satisfy his craves. 

Ingredients:

- cherry tomatoes

- sour plum (甜话梅) - about 5-6 or more depending on ur preference 

- honey

- ice water

- pot of boiling water

Steps:

1. Pour boiling water over the sour plum and set aside. 

2. Score a line over each tomato

3. Boil a pot of water and add the tomatoes in. Dish out after 15 seconds and submerge into ice water. 

 

4. Peel the skin. U may like to keep half of the tomatoes with skin intact and some peeled. I think that makes the colours more interesting. 

5. Drop the tomatoes into a glass jar and add in the soaked preserved plums. Add in the leftover plum water.

6. Add in 2 tablespoon of honey. 

7. Refrigerate for 1-2 days in the fridge before snacking away. 

Happy snacking!

Happy mum

Ginger Scallion Sauce

Condiments are so important. They usually play very good supporting role for all the mains. So today, I was supermarket-ing and saw a small bottle of ginger sauce and it is retailing $6.95! Well, I just had to have a try in doing a home-made bottle. 

Ingredient: 

Scallions (Spring Onions) x 3 sprigs

Ginger x half (about 20 slices)

Garlic x 3 large cloves

Oil x half cup

Salt x 1 teaspoon 

Remarks: the portion of the scallions : ginger : garlic should be 3:2:1

Steps:

1. Chop the scallions.  Set aside.

2. Sliced the ginger into strips and chop small. Set aside. 

3. Chop the garlic and set aside. 

4. Heat up the cup of oil. 

5. Pour the mixture together including the salt in a blender. Pour in the boiling oil. 

6.  Blend away. Dish out to cool before storage. 

Happy making!

Happy mum

Addictive Meatballs and Money Pouches

Here something amazingly simple but addictive that almost anyone can prepare in their kitchen. This will also be one of those dishes that you can rope in your little ones to bond over with while preparing for this. 😊

Ingredients:

A packet of mince meat ($2-$3 worth)

A tub of fish paste (I love the Bobo fish paste.)

3 pcs water chestnuts (minced roughly)

Half stick of carrot (minced roughly)

1/4 teaspoon of salt 

Dash of pepper

Dash of 5-spice powder (五香粉)

For money pouch:

Wanton Skin (云吞皮) - for money 

For meatball:

3 pcs Cream Crackers (break them up into crumbs)

The ingredients above makes about 50 pcs assorted of the money pouch and meatballs. 

Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients (except cream crackers and wanton skin) using a fork until the paste becomes gluey. 

2. Separate the mixture into 2 parts. One set will be used for meatballs and the other will be used as money pouches. 

3. Working on the money pouches first, scoop about 3/4 teaspoon of paste onto the center of a piece of wanton skin.  Gather the excess skin and stick them together to create a pouch. 

㊙️ Tips: You can also wrap them up differently. Some ideas: samosa shapes, dumpling shapes or anything u fancy, so long the fillings doesn't spill out. Take care not to fill up the skin with too much fillings too to prevent the wanton skin from breaking.  Set aside. 

4. For the meatballs, roll the paste in your palm into little balls, about 3cm in diameter or slightly smaller than a rocher chocolate. Coat the balls with the cream biscuit crumbs. Set aside. 

5. Heat up a wok of oil in medium fire. When the oil is hot, fry the money pouches batch by batch. It will take about 2-3 mins for the skin to turn golden brown. Dish onto a plate of paper towels and set aside. 

6. Next, fry the meatballs. The meatballs will be done on about 2-3 mins too, depending on how big or small you have rolled them. 

㊙️ Tips: As the meatballs are coated with crumbs, you should first fry the money pouches then followed by the meatballs. Some crumbs may fall off from the meatball and will turn black (from over frying).  Hence if you fry the meatballs first follow by the money pouches, you will notice the wanton skin may be coated with these blackish crumbs. 

Happy Huat-ing!

Happy mum

Hong Kong Style Steamed Greasy Grouper

Ok, the eldest son super loves steam fish with soy sauce. He is a picky eater and whenever we dine at restaurants, he will always request for that one dish only. As it is, that is a super expensive dish and I can't keep feeding him with that!  Hence, I decided to show him that he can have his favorite at home too, at one-tenth of the restaurant price. 

Ingredients:

Greasy Grouper

Salt (rub over the fish and its cavity)

Salted Plum x 1

Spring onions x 2 sprigs (chopped into 2 inch length)

Ginger (5 big slices and 3 slices julienned - strips)

Rice Wine

Shao Xing wine

Sauce:

Mixture of:

Light soy sauce (2 table spoons)

Sesame oil (1 table spoon)

Water (3 table spoons)

Oil (2 tablespoons) - set aside. 

Steps:

1. After washing of fish, pat dry with paper towel. Salt the fish totally including its stomach. 

2. Lay 1/3 of the spring onions and 1/2 of the big slices of ginger on the plate. Stuff the fish stomach with another 1/3 of the spring onions and 2 slices of ginger. 

3. Rest the fish on the spring onions and ginger slices. Garnish the fish with the slices strips ginger. Place a sour plum next to the fish.

4. Pour 1 teaspoon of rice water over the fish. Then another half cap of the ShaoXing wine over the fish. 

5.  Send the fish into the steamer for 10mins. 

6. Prepare the soy sauce mixture. 

7. Heat up the oil. 

8. When 10 mins is up, remove the plate and pour away the water on the plate (from the steaming process). Place the fish back into the steamer. 

9. Add in the last 1/3 of the spring onions on top of the fish. 

10. Pour the hot oil over the body of the fish and onto the newly added spring onions. You will hear the lovely sizzling sound. 

11. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the fish. 

12. Cover back the lid of the steamer. 

13. Off fire after 1 min. Dish to serve 

There you go, an inexpensive dish that is so expensive in restaurants. The greasy grouper is $6 from NTUC.  The last steamed fish we had from a restaurant recently is a whopping $180. That's crazy crazy!

Happy mum

田七泡参排骨汤

So I have a growing 13yr old at home and mum has been reminding me to brew the so important soup for the son once a month for 3 months. This 田七is said to be very nourishing for growing boys (and adults too) and is supposedly to :

- improve blood circulation 

- expel bad blood

- heal internal injuries 

- improve appetite 

- grow stronger and taller

- many more

So, I made a trip to the Chinese 药材店 and learned more from the shop assistant and got what is required to brew this soup. 

一两田七 (bought 1 两, spilt into 4 packets)

泡参  (bought 1 两)

Ingredients:

- Tian Qi 田七 (use 1 packet)

- Pao Shen 泡参 (use 8-10 slices)

- wolf berries (use a handful, prob 8-10pcs)

- lean meat / spare ribs / chicken

- pinch of salt

- 4 bowls of water

Steps:

Add all the above ingredients (except salt) into a pot and brew on high fire for 30mins then switch to low fire to slow boil for 1.5hrs (or until meat is tender and cooked). Add salt towards the end when about to off the fire. 

Happy brewing

Happy mum 

Yong Tou Fu (Ampang Style)

Was at the wet market when I saw a stall selling freshly made Yong tau Foo ingredients. Couldn't resist and hence got a couple of items. Picked the red and green chillies, brinjals, tau kees etc. All the items came fully stuffed with fish paste. Yums!  

For this recipe, you may pick and choose any type of YTF ingredients. 

Ingredients:

- assorted YTF items 

- minced meat

- oyster sauce

- light soya sauce

- salt

- white pepper

- sesame oil

- corn flour

- potato starch

Step 1:

Marinate the minced meat with sesame oil, pinch of salt, light soya sauce and white pepper.

Step 2:

Heat up the pan and add oil. When oil is hot, add in the minced meat and give a good fry to loosen the meat.  Continue frying.

Step 3:

Add in a tbsp of oyster sauce and continue to fry the meat.

Step 4: 

When meat turned white (80% cooked), add in half cup of water and continue frying. 

Step 5: 

Mixed corn flour and potato starch with water. Slowly add into the meat, stirring as you pour. The gravy will thickened. Dish up and set aside for later use. 

Step 6:

Using same pan, add in some oil.  When oil is hot, add in the YTF items one by one, starting with those that require longer time to pan-fry. E.g. Brinjals, tau Kwa, tau Kee, Chilli etc.  

Note: if you do not want to mix the Chilli, you can pan-fry them separately and set aside for the final plating. 

Step 7: 

When the items turned slightly browned or when the fish paste becomes white, add in the minced meat and gravy.

Step 8:

Quick fry and give the pan a good shake to toss the items. Before you dish up, add a little sesame oil to enhance the smell and taste. Using a tong or chopstick, pick up the items and place in a plate. Once all are nicely plated, pour the meat and gravy over the YTF items. 

Happy cooking!

Happy mum

Salted Veg Duck Soup (Itek Tim)

I'm Nothing beats a bowl of hot soup. And when I saw a pack of half duck and some salted veg a distance away at the supermarket, I knew I had to satisfy my craving of a nice rich soup by whipping up a pot of Itek Tim (salted veg duck soup)

Ingredients:

- half duck, de-skinned (can feed 4 adults)

- salted veg (soak for 15mins or slightly longer to rid the excess salt)

- 3 sour plum

- 5-6 thick slice of ginger

- 1 bulb of garlic/6-8 cloves  (unpeeled and gently smashed)

- 1 tomato (cut into 4 wedges)

Step 1: 

Boil 2 pots of water 

Step 2: 

Upon the first pot that boiled, add in the duck meat to blanch. The water will soon turn cloudy and greasy. This process helps to remove excess oil and impurities. Remove blanched meat. 

Step 3:

Add the duck meat into the 2nd pot of boiling water together with the garlic, ginger, sour plum and salted veg. Let it boil over 1 hr. 

Step 4:

Add in tomato wedges and continue to boil under medium fire for another 1 hr before turning to low fire and continue boiling for 30-60 mins. Taste and add very little salt if require.  

Happy cooking!

Happy mum